Bradley Beal Bounces Back From Embarrassing Loss With Career-High 51

Published on
December 6th, 2017
by Astramskas, David
| 625 views

What a difference a day makes. Bradley Beal said he could barely sleep after missing 9-of-15 shots and watching rookie Donovan Mitchell drop 21 points in three quarters during the Wall-less Wizards’ 47-point loss to the Jazz. Less than 24 hours later, Bradley Beal was celebrating a new career-high of 51 points, on 21-of-37 shooting, in a victory against the Blazers and their backcourt of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum.

“I’ve been thinking way too much,” Said Beal, who scored a total of 50 points on 16-of-49 shooting over his last four games . “Tonight, I was just playing freely and having fun.

“I came into the game with the mindset of being aggressive, especially coming off the game last night and the way I played the last four or five games.”

The 51 was a Moda center record and the most ever scored against the Blazers in Portland; Lou Hudson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar both scored 49 in the early 70s. The 51 was also high enough to be the third most scored in the NBA this season; LeBron’s 57 and James Harden’s 56 rank one and two.

CHRISTMAS IN DC

The last time a Wizard scored 50+ was John Wall almost exactly one year ago (52 points on December 6th of 2016). And back on December 6th of 1972, Phil Chenier scored 53 points. If that wasn’t a big enough coincidence, seven of the nine highest scoring games in franchise history happened in December: Gilbert Arenas franchise-high of 60 happened on December 17th of 2006 against the Lakers; A few days later, he put up 54 on the Suns; Michael Jordan’s last 50 point game (51) happened with the Wizards on December 29th of 2001.

About the Author

Astramskas, David Aka VincentDa & RedApples fka Expiredpineapples. My alter-ego is a digital-marketing guy in Houston. Won editing awards & created obsolete flash websites that have been featured in mags like Sports Illustrated. Studied film & women at FSU during the golden age of hip-hop. Collects records, laserdiscs, sports memorabilia & toys. Father of 2 daughters that are more athletic and popular on YouTube.